IAEA Says Iran Has Document For Making Nuclear Weapon Parts

Muhammad el-Baradei, head of the IAEA, which says it saw a document from Iran that could only be used to make nuclear weapons parts (file photo) (AFP)
31 January 2006 -- Officials at the International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA, said today that they have seen a document from Iran whose only use could be for making nuclear weapon parts.

The IAEA says Iranian authorities refused to allow the agency to copy the document.

The agency also confirmed today that Iran has started preparations for enriching uranium.

The details come in a new report to the IAEA's Board of Governors. The report is to be discussed at an emergency meeting of the board on 2 February, which is expected to refer Iran to the UN Security Council.

Uranium enrichment is a process that produces fuel for use in nuclear reactors. It can also produce material for atomic weapons.

(AFP, AP, ITAR-TASS, Reuters)

Who's Got The Bomb?

DECLARED NUCLEAR-WEAPONS COUNTRIES:

country warheads (est.) date of first test

United States 10,500 1945

Russia 18,000 1949

United Kingdom 200 1952

France 350 1960

China 400 1964

India 60-90 1974

Pakistan 28-48 1998

North Korea 0-18 2006

Notes:

Israel is widely believed to possess nuclear weapons, but it has not declared itself a nuclear-armed country.

South Africa constructed six uranium bombs but voluntarily dismantled them.

Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine all gave up the nuclear weapons that were on their territory when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.